Handling pilots....a noob wants to know.....

So I briefly played War Thunder before ending-up here and I really mishandled my pilots there. I'd like to avoid doing the same here. I have been flying tier 1 planes exclusively until a couple days ago when this "Chasing the Mosquito" event came out. For whatever reason that interested me so it involved being forced out of tier 1 and getting new planes and crew.

Anyway, for someone with zero knowledge about crew options....what do you guys do? When you get new planes and/or move up in tiers are you moving your old pilots up with you. If yes, then I assume you pay the fee to upgrade the automatically to 90% proficiency. Do you move your crews frequently? If I later move them back to a plane they were 100% proficient in, do they retain that proficiency or do they have to start over at 50 % and be upgraded through some combination of silver, experience, gold every time? What if they move between several planes? Is that even practical? Would they pay a fee (silver) with every move and still have a period of time (when they are earning that last 10% proficiency) when they are not advancing their own unique skills? Does any of this make any sense? Lol, and thanks as always.

Pilots are only proficient in the plane they are trained in. The only exception to that is if you move them into a premium plane. Pilots that are 100% trained in a regular plane will retain that 100% proficiency when put in a premium plane from the same country. You can train up pilot skills in a premium plane when the pilot is 100%, but you can not train up pilot proficiency of a pilot assigned to a regular plane in a premium plane. To put it another way, pilot proficiency only advances when the pilot is flying the plane he is assigned to and pilot skills can be trained up in the plane he is assigned to as well as a premium plane as long as he is up to 100% proficiency.

When you have all the modules researched as well as the next plane(s) in line in a tech tree plane, the plane becomes elite. When you have an elite plane you get the option to check the "Advance crew training" which will help gain experience towards pilot skills. I would recommend that on all elite and premium planes, that you check the advance crew training to earn skill points faster.

Moving a pilot back into a plane that he was once 100% in, will mean he will need to be retrained again for that plane. Pilots won't be 100% in more than one plane, unless the other plane is a premium of the same country.

Moving a pilot back into a plane that he was once 100% in, will mean he will need to be retrained again for that plane. Pilots won't be 100% in more than one plane, unless the other plane is a premium of the same country.

Thanks, that helps. So how often are people moving their pilots? Do you have 1 or 2 that you always move to the planes you are currently flying the most? Or, do you seldom move your pilots so you have lots of medium-skilled pilots instead of 1 or 2 very skilled pilots? That's where I messed-up in War Thunder. I had many semi-skilled pilots whereas a lot of players have 2 or 3 highly trained pilots and the rest they never use. At least that how it seems to work in War Thunder, but as far as I know there is no penalty for moving pilots in that game so it makes sense to do it that way. Here, I'm not so sure....

Thanks, Lethal..... That helps a lot, too. (Your post wasn't there until I refreshed after responding to Jaguar)

I don't have any pilots assigned to premium planes, I always transfer them from regular planes. Like Lethal said, if you are going to keep a plane, I would recommend getting a pilot assigned to that plane. Moving pilots around will either cost you to get them up to 100% proficiency or you will take a hit on their proficiency and skills when flying. There is also a chance to lose a pilot if you are not careful when switching them from a plane to barracks...DON'T EVER DISMISS A PILOT UNLESS YOU NEVER WANT TO SEE THAT PILOT AGAIN.

I move my pilots to a new aircraft every time I buy the next one in the tree. If you like an aircraft in the tree and want to keep it, start a new pilot in THAT aircraft, not in the next one in the tree. Your best pilots should always move up the tree as you progress.

That being said, as you move through the tiers, you don't want to re-train for credits or gold until you hit about tier IV. Using credits to retrain to a tier II or III aircraft will not be worth it, as you will not be in them for very long.

If you are planning to stay in a tier for awhile, the retrain might be worth it.

"More fun than a three-legged mouse covered in hash oil.""This is like taking my p38 through a cloud of loose stools... watta mess."

I don't move pilots at all. Each of my >190 planes has its own crew. I spend the credits to have them start at 90%, but each new plane gets a new pilot. I've never accidentally dismissed one with this method.

Founder of the original CLOWN clan. Haven't lost a single member in over 3 years of existence.

With a purchase of a higher tier plane I promote ( move ) my experienced pilot into that position.

Been awhile since i have done it but i think it is 20k silver to retain to 90%.

It will only take about 10 battles for him to be 100% in the new plane.

If I keep the old plane then I just plop in a new pilot.

All my pilots just move up a tier. so my tier 1 plane will always have a new pilot while the tier 10 has the most experienced pilot

I find that interesting. Do you consistently fly all of your tier 10s with those experienced pilots or do some just sit?

For the pilots with skills we carried over from beta, I put them in my favorite planes of that nation regardless of tier. My 10 skill German beta pilot is still in my Ar 65 as it is one of the only German planes I really enjoy flying (and I only fly it for the daily x2). I say if you're moving pilots, put the skilled ones in the planes you fly the most - they'll get more skills faster if you use them.

Founder of the original CLOWN clan. Haven't lost a single member in over 3 years of existence.

I move my pilots to a new aircraft every time I buy the next one in the tree. If you like an aircraft in the tree and want to keep it, start a new pilot in THAT aircraft, not in the next one in the tree. Your best pilots should always move up the tree as you progress.

That being said, as you move through the tiers, you don't want to re-train for credits or gold until you hit about tier IV. Using credits to retrain to a tier II or III aircraft will not be worth it, as you will not be in them for very long.

If you are planning to stay in a tier for awhile, the retrain might be worth it.